Tag Archives: Hammas

Whew! We made it through 2011…perhaps just by the skin of our teeth. As we enter the new year let’s pause for a moment to reflect on the current “state of the world.” Since I’m not a prophet I won’t make any prognostications about what will happen in 2012. Those gloom and doom pronouncements are floating around all over the internet (usually with an agenda of some sort – sell products, solicit donations, attract devotees to some individual or group); it doesn’t pay to unduly focus on them or have a panic attack and go hide in a cave somewhere with ten years’ worth of food. Where to focus? I’ll tell you at the end of this article. Meanwhile, where are we at right now?

• The United States is now 15 trillion dollars in debt with 4.5 trillion added in just the last 3 years by a President and congress who love to spend other people’s money.

• Homegrown terrorism in the United States is growing. A Pew Poll of US Muslims has indicated some disturbing trends. Among native-born African-American Muslims, 11% have a favorable opinion of al-Qaeda, 16% say that attacking civilians can be religiously justified at least sometimes and 40% support extremism. In another study by Mordechai Kedar and David Yerushalmi, only 19% of United States’ mosques do not teach jihad violence and/or Islamic supremacism.

The Arab Spring has produced the very opposite of the “freedom” that media and government “talking heads” were promising, with Islamic pro-Shariah regimes coming into power.

• Iran has been flexing its muscles as it tested its first domestically produced nuclear fuel rod and tested a new medium-range surface-to-air missile, all in its race toward the goal of producing a nuclear weapon.

• A shocking article by Andrew McCarthy in Family Security Matters revealed that “that the Obama administration has turned to Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Muslim Brotherhood’sleading jurist, to mediate secret negotiations between the United States and the Taliban.”

Sheikh Yusuf-al-Qaradawi

I have written about al-Qaradawi before. He is, without exaggeration, evil incarnate! “Qaradawi urges that Islam must dominate the world, under a global caliphate governed by sharia.” His view of the Jews, not just Israel or “settlers”, is straight out of classic Islamic writings:

This is what is told in the Hadith of Ibn-Omar and the Hadith of Abu-Hurairah: “You shall continue to fight the Jews and they will fight you, until the Muslims will kill them. And the Jew will hide behind the stone and the tree, and the stone and the tree will say: ‘Oh servant of Allah, Oh Muslim, this is a Jew behind me. Come and kill him!’ The resurrection will not come before this happens.” This is a text from the good omens in which we believe.

Al-Qaradawi believes this? Some impartial mediator! What could the administration possibly hope to gain by the intervention of a barbaric monster who is still living in the seventh century? The scary thought is – perhaps their intent isn’t to advance American interests. America is the “great Satan,” you know.

• Finally, here in Israel, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is still working on unity talks with Hamas and other Palestinian factions. Why bother to come to the negotiating table with “evil Israel” when you can come to the negotiating table with a “terrorist organization.” On top of that, Abbas has just appointedGeneral Mahmoud Damra to the post of special presidential advisor for district affairs. Damra has the dubious distinction of being one of the 1,027 terrorists released as part of the Gilad Schalit exchange. He was directly involved in several attacks that claimed Israeli lives.

OK already, the state of the world is bleak, and 2012 won’t be a year for the faint-hearted. But, as I said earlier, to focus on the craziness will do nothing but make us crazy or depressed. Where to focus? On the One who is ultimately in charge of everything. His solution to the world’s dilemma is much too simple for most people to grasp but it’s guaranteed to work, whether on an individual or national level…and here it is…

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2Chronicles 7:14

Back in 1995 an Israeli political leader penned the following words, “The release of convicted terrorists before they have served their full sentences seems like an easy and tempting way of defusing blackmail situations in which innocent people may lose their lives, but its utility is momentary at best.

“Prisoner releases only embolden terrorists by giving them the feeling that even if they are caught, their punishment will be brief. Worse, by leading terrorists to think such demands are likely to be met, they encourage precisely the terrorist blackmail they are supposed to defuse.”

That writer, if he were Prime Minister and faced with the kidnapping of one of his soldiers by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, would have appeared on television and announced that all food, water, electricity and other goods that had been flowing into Gaza would be stopped until the soldier was released. He would have announced that, should anything happen to the soldier, the consequences to Gaza would be devastating.

That leader was Benjamin Netanyahu. Only now, instead of standing firm for the courage of his convictions, he has capitulated to Hamas and struck a deal with them for the release of one Israeli captive, Gilad Schalit. Schalit was abducted in a cross-border raid while serving in a tank unit near the Gaza Strip and has been held, virtually without contact to the outside world, for five years. Israeli left-wing media during those five years waged an unremitting battle, blaming the Israeli government for his plight and emphasizing the suffering of his family. Only surrender to Hamas would suffice – nothing less. To the media, heroism was no longer important; in fact, it was the remnant of a more barbarous age. Now only sensitivity counts. In fact what they were doing is confusing the micro (feelings of the family) with the macro (what’s good for the country as a whole). That’s fine for ordinary people. All of us were concerned for Gilad Schalit and all of us sympathized with his long-suffering family. But it’s not alright for a government to think and act in those terms. Our leaders are entrusted with the duty of defending the nation as a whole.

So, while on a micro level, all of us are overjoyed at the prospect of Gilad Schalit coming home today (Tuesday), on a macro level many of us are horrified at the price our government has agreed to pay:

In return for Gilad Schalit’s freedom Israel has agreed to release 1027 Palestinian prisoners in two stages: 450 men plus 27 women in the first stage and 550 men in the second, approximately two months later. What makes this deal so problematic is the following:

1. The sheer number of Palestinian terrorists being released represents a victory for Hamas. The huge celebrations being held by both Hamas and the PA should tell us something.

2. Many of the terrorists being released have blood on their hands. They are directly responsible for the deaths of Israelis. Among those to be released in the first stage are 279 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment. Families who lost loved ones feel completely betrayed by their government as they imagine seeing the killers smiling from their busses holding up the V sign for victory. According to Dan Greenfied (Sultan Knish), “The Shalit deal will release some of the worst murderers in Israeli history, including those responsible for the Dolphinarium disco bombing which killed over a dozen teenagers, the Sbarro pizza bombing which wiped out an entire family, the lynchers of two Israeli reservists and the Passover Massacre at the Park Hotel.”

3. The prisoner swap will encourage more terrorism. Why not kill as many Jews as you can if you know that you’ve got a “get out of jail free” card waiting for you? You’ll most likely only serve a short jail sentence and then return home as a conquering hero.

4. History proves that the majority of those released will go on to attempt further acts of terrorism. For example, Ahlam Tamimi, who drove the terrorist responsible for the 2001 suicide bombing of the Jerusalem Sbarro Pizza Restaurant, when asked whether she regrets the act, responded to a reporter that she was saddened that she could not kill more than 15 Jews. Is anyone naïve enough to think that someone with her attitude won’t return to jihad? While there are those who believe that Israel is much better equipped today to defend itself against terrorist attacks, time will tell whether or not these assertions are true.

It’s Sukkot. We are commanded to rejoice. So let us rejoice that our captive son is coming home. But let us also pray that God will restore some backbone in our spineless leadership so that the rest of our sons may grow up free and strong.

You and your administration have relentlessly demanded that we apologize to the various and assorted lunatic dictators and jihadists in our region. Evidently, in your opinion, we are the cause of every conflagration in the Middle East. So here, dear Madame Secretary of State, are our apologies.

To Turkey – Mr. Erdogan, we’re very sorry that we didn’t blow your ship and its peaceful protesters out of the water when it ignored our warnings to stop. Yes, the world would have been furious – but they were furious anyway. And, yes, we would have deprived you of the boat which you are now using as a museum whose goal is to teach new generations of “holy warriors” how noble it is to ambush us, beat us and then die for the sake of Allah. But we would have spared our own boys pain and humiliation and possibly would have cut short the endless investigations and recriminations that followed. In any case, you probably won’t see Israeli soldiers armed with paint ball guns again in the near future.

Hillary, your administration threatened us that it would be difficult for the US to convince other countries to reject Palestinian statehood unless we apologize – so we’ve done it! And in case you’ve forgotten what the real purpose of the flotilla was, here’s a little video to refresh your memory.

To Egypt – We’re sorry that you suffer from uncontrollable Muslim rage and refused to accept our apologies on the death of some of your border police this past Thursday. Actually what we really regret is our somewhat blasé attitude toward your islamist tilt and your possible collusion in the bloody events that unfolded on Route 12 near Eilat. We should have closed that road; that way you (or the terrorists from Gaza who used your territory for their base) wouldn’t have been driven to attack us. It’s all our fault!

Hillary – we know it’s vacation time for most folks, including President Obama, so in case you didn’t notice what happened on Thursday, August 18th: Israel came under a three-pronged attack from Palestinian terrorists from Gaza who infiltrated through Egypt’s Sinai border near the southern port city of Eilat. As a result 8 Israelis were killed: 6 civilians, 1 soldier and 1 police officer. In addition there were at least 40 wounded.

Sorry, we know that numbers are boring, so we’d like to put some faces on those statistics. Consider two sisters, Flora Gaz and Shulamit Karlinsky and their husbands heading to Eilat for a vacation. Their car was hit by an anti-tank missile and then, not satisfied with that, the terrorists approached and finished them off by firing shots into their bodies. The sisters worked in daycare centers for three- and four-year-old children in Kfar Saba. Both were well-known and respected educators. The Gaz family was expecting their first grandchild in three months.

The response of the world to the shedding of Jewish blood? As usual – silence! Israel asked the 15 member United Nations Security Council presently led by Lebanon (aka Hezbollahstan) to condemn the terrorist assault. Lebanon refused the request and demanded that the Israeli draft be amended, for the sake of moral equivalence, to include criticism of Israel’s retaliatory air strikes on Gaza. Since the resolution required a unanimous vote, it failed! Ron Prosor, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, responded, “It is no coincidence that Lebanon – the only member of the council that obstructed this statement — is itself dominated by a terrorist organization [Hezbollah]… The silence now echoing from the Security Council Chamber is a sad reminder that the United Nations is too often deaf and blind when it comes to acts of terror committed against the people of Israel.” How about you and your president, Hillary? Are you also deaf and blind or are you purposely acting that way?

Finally – to the US – forgive us for bowing to your pressure to withdraw from Gaza and limit ourselves to politically correct warfare. We know we’ve caused you untold anxiety as you watch (or try to ignore) those poor enraged Palestinians shooting missiles and rockets in our direction because they have no other way to express their frustration. Our civilians with their annoying schools, hospitals and apartments just happen to be in their way. Again – our fault!

But, Hillary, as repulsive as it may be for you, just put yourself in our shoes for a few minutes and imagine what it’s like for us. First for those Israelis who were uprooted from their homes and farms in Gaza for the sake of “peace”. Here’s a child’s view….

Then there are the civilians who live within range of Palestinian rockets. As of this morning (Sunday) over 80 rockets have been fired into Israel affecting cities such as Ofakim, Beer Sheva, Ashkelon and Ashdod. 500,000 people are vulnerable and must take shelter when the air raid sirens go off, some with as little as fifteen seconds to respond to the warning.

Here’s another face for you – Yossi Shoshan, 38, heard the air raid sirens go off and was hurrying to protect his 9-month-pregnant wife. He didn’t make it. He leaves behind a young widow and a son who will never know his father.

One final question for you, Hillary – why is the Obama administration going to great lengths to erase Israel off the White House website? Didn’t hear about it? Check out the article White House Mischief by Daniel Pipes, President of the Middle East Forum. Seems that every former mention of “Jerusalem, Israel” is now simply “Jerusalem”.